Day 14: The last of the ghats...

Day 14: Narkanda to Parwanoo

This was the last day for ghats. All we would see henceforth were traffic and jams. To avoid the traffic, we bypassed Shimla and went via Khufri, Chail and Kandaghat. One of our macho rider with a huge-built slapped a transport car driver for some reason and fled away. After which the driver tried to rough me up as I was next and the driver knew the fact that all the bikers were in the same group. We both couldn’t hit each other, and all I could do was hurl a profanity or two at him, since he was at a distance. Some moments of frustration as I couldn’t hit the guy. The feeling lasted for more than an hour.

We stopped at Chail, a town which had the highest cricket stadium in the world. Sports?Ahh. I didn’t want anything to do with sports as I was on a holiday and had been covering the sports beat for my newspaper since the time of Adam and Eve. I preferred not to have a look at the stadium and proceeded for lunch.

Aloo parantha and daal makhni with authentic roti made me hog like a pig. After a heavy lunch and a not so authentic lassi, I figured that it was best to keep myself active for the fear of dozing off. We started feeling the heat upon nearing the sea level. Traffic jams were a common sight and I began to slip into deep depression as I realised that the trip was nearing its epilogue.

We checked in into a luxurious hotel which had a swimming pool. I slept like a baby, and snored like a wolf. By now, my room partner was used to it.

Day 15: Adieus Amigos....

Day 15: Parwanoo to Delhi and farewell

We were on the planes of Parwanoo and had started feeling the heat. The idea of heading back to Delhi itself was depressing. With instructions to ride slow on the Haryana highway, we were also warned about the stubborn truck drivers who wouldn’t give way for overtaking. After staying fit and fine throughout the journey, it was when I entered the Delhi border that I began feeling dehydrated. I was stuck in a jam and the protective gear gave me a feeling of sitting in a heated furnace. I stopped twice and had seven glasses of nimbu-paani before I reached Vishwa Yuvak Kendra.

(The achievement – I completed the journey without a crash, or falling ill or getting the bike fixed for any reason. Only few didn’t see the doctor after their medial test at the beginning of the ride. Some got their handle bars changed, some got dimples on their bike’s fuel tank. I can just thank god that I came back in one piece, without a single scratch on my body or the bike. ROYAL ENFIELD- was-is-and will remain the best, no matter what the model is. )

The place which on the first day seemed melancholic but now, I was not feeling out of place. Those who looked like strangers before the journey had turned into good buddies. We couldn’t wait for the farewell party which had a special bus, arranged specifically to prevent us from riding after we were all sloshed with booze. Bonsai, at Connaught Place, was an ideal place for enthusiastic riders, for it played excellent alt-rock. All the photographs that had been clicked by the riders were displayed on the projectors. This, brought cheers, smiles and even tears. No one wanted to face the reality and believe that the Himalayan Odyssey was actually over. After promising one another that the trip was not over yet and that we would keep meeting and going for rides like these more often, we headed back to our rooms.

Morning was the time when everybody departed one by one. I remember what my friends in Pune had asked me when I first told them about taking the trip. “Why are you going/what would you get?” I was speechless then, and would still be the same now if anybody was to hammer me with the same question. For, I can’t put my experience into words. It is inexplicable. Not even a thousand photographs would explain what I felt about the Himalyan Odyssey.’

Now the question is- Will I go biking to Ladakh again? The answer is YES. Till I have a spine and blood runs in my body, I would go there again and again, because what I saw and experienced, no one did…